My first spin of this cd i must admit made my stomach churn... the cheesy effects, the almost non-existent guitars... the overbearing synths... it was a mess from hell! i still had something drawn to me from the album... i don't know, maybe it was God, but whatever it was, i felt compelled to listen more.
After four or five listens to the worst gothic shock album i'd heard i began to skip the intros... immediately i was able to stand the album. i put the album minus intros on my computer and hit play and repeat on winamp... for the next couple days i found myself able to hear the guitars more and actually stand some of the odd lyrical content. by listen twelve or so... i just couldn't stop listening. the album was good...
Legitimately, i'd have to say that if you look past the cheesy effects and the sometimes outright odd lyrical production, there is some really good material here. it may take some getting used to... but come on... who really liked the first Living Sacrifice when they first picked it up?
I'd say this album deserves to be in your collection... especially if you listen to dark and shock... if you listen to just death metal, stay away... if you listen to just punk, stay away... if you like metal and its many varieties... pick it up and see if you can like it. it's not the best, but it's better than many.
7/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #73Reviewed by Chad Olson"These guys are like a Christian Marilyn Manson," I would say to passers-by at Creation Fest. Heads would turn, eyes would widen, and I was ostracized. Manson is a taboo name in the Christian industry. But, these guys have the inevitable pleasure of wearing this tag. The Christian music scene has needed something like this for several years. This 11-song disc, Candyland, is full of heavy riffs,…The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Joe RockstrohCDs that have cool cover art rarely suck. So when I opened up my Rackets and Drapes CD and saw the tall, thin garishly-dressed green man with an evil smile beckoning me into a candy house, I knew I had a winner. Rackets and Drapes is the newest sensation, being called the "Christian Marilyn Manson." Rackets and Drapes, while having a lot of the elements that Marilyn Manson has, is not a clone.…Similar sounding releases
1998NecromanicideHate Regime
1994GodfleshSelfless
2001Soul EmbracedThis Is My Blood
1995DeathSymbolic
1998DeuteronomiumStreet Corner Queen
2003MortificationPower, Pain & PassionMore from Rackets & Drapes
2000Trick or Treat
1996Inside, Outside, Upside Down
1999The Sick and the Beautiful
2002Love Letters from Hell
